You were about to speak.
(To North
North.
Yea, my good lord.
Those prisoners in your highness' name demanded,
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took
Were, as he says, not with such strength denied,
As is deliver'd to your majesty:
Either envy, therefore, or misprision
Is guilty of this fault, and not my son.

Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But, I remember, when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil,
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword.
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin, new reap'd,
Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest-home :
He was perfumed like a milliner;

And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon
He gave his nose, and took 't away again :-
Who, therewith angry, when it next came there,
Took it in snufl:-and still he smil'd, and talk'd;
And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by.
He call'd them-untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holyday and lady terms

He question'd me; among the rest, demanded
My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf.

I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold,

To be so pester'd with a popinjay,
Out of my grief and my impatience,
Answer'd negligently, I know not what ;

He should, or should not-for he made me mad,
To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman,

Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God save the

mark!)

Whatever Harry Percy then had said,

To such a person, and in such a place,

At such a time, with all the rest re-told,
May reasonably die, and never rise
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he said, so he unsay it now.

K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners; But with proviso, and exception,

That we, at our own charge, shall ransome straight
His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer;
Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of those, that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whose daughter, as we hear, the earl of March
Hath lately married. Shall our coffers then
Be emptied, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and indent with fears,
When they have lost and forfeited themselves?
No, on the barren mountains let him starve;
For I shall never hold that man iny friend,
Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost
To ransome home revolted Mortimer!
Hot. Revolted Mortimer!

He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,
Bby the chance of war:--To prove that true,
Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,

drink,

Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood;
Who, then, affrighted with their bloody looks,
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,
And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank,
Blood-stained with these valiant combatants.
Never did bare and rotten policy

Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly:

Then let him not be slander'd with revolt.

K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him,

He never did encounter with Glendower;
I tell thee,

He durst as well have met the devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

Art not asham'd? But, sirrah, henceforth
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:
Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,
Or you shall hear in such a kind from me
As will displease you.-My lord Northumberland,
We license your departure with your son-
Send us your prisoners, or you'll hear of it.

Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and Train.
Hot. And if the devil come and roar for them,
I will not send them :-I will after straight,
And tell him so; for I will ease my heart,
Although it be with hazard of my head.
North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and
pause awhile;

Here comes your uncle.

Hot.

Re-enter WORCESTER.

Speak of Mortimer '

Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him:

Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins,
And shed my dear blood drop by drop i'the dust,
Bot I will lift the down trod Mortimer

As high i'the air as this unthankful king,
As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke.
North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew
mad.
To Worcester.
Ior. Who struck this heat up after I was gone
Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners;
And when I urg'd the ransome once again

Of

my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale; And on my face he turn'd an eye of death, Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not pro

claim'd,

wide mouth

Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of.

Hot. But, soft, I pray you; Did king Richard then Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown.

North. He did myself did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king, That wish'd him on the barren mountains stary'd. But shall it be, that you, that set the crown Upon the head of this forgetful man: And for his sake, wear the de tested blot Of murd'rous s..bornation, shall it be, That you a world of curses undergo : Being the agents, or base second means, The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather "

O, pardon me, that I descend so low,
To show the line, and the predicament,
Wherein you range under this subtle king.
Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power
Did 'gage them both in an unjust behalf,-
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,-
To pat down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?
And shall it, in more shame, be farther spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him, for whom these shames ye underwent?
No, yet time serves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again :
Revenge the jeering, and disdain'd contempt
Of this proud king; who studies, day and night,
To answer all the debt he owes to you,
Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.
Therefore, I say,—

Wor.

Peace, cousin, say no more:

And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents
I'll read you matter deep and dangerous :
As full of peril, and advent'rous spirit,
As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud,
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

Hot. If he fall in, good night:-or sink or swim :-
Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple ;-O! the blood more stirs,
To rouse a lion, than to start a hare.

North. Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.

Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon: Or dive into the bottom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,
And plock up drowned honour by the locks;
So be, that doth redeem her thence, might wear,
Without corrival, all her dignities:
But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!

Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here,
But not the form of what he should attend.—
Good cousin, give me audience for a while.
Hot. I cry you mercy.
Wor.

That are your prisoners,-
Hot.

Those same noble Scots,

I'll keep them all;

By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them: No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not: I'll keep them, by this hand.

Wor.

You start away,

And lend no ear unto my purposes.— Those prisoners you shall keep.

Hot.

Nay, I will, that's flat:-
He said, he would not ransome Mortimer;
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
Bat I will find him, when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer!
Nay,

I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him,
To keep his anger still in motion.

Wor.

Consin; a word.

Hear you,

Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy,

Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:

Deliver them up without their ransome straight,
And make the Douglas' son your only mean
For powers in Scotland; which,-for divers reasons,
Which I shall send you written,-be assur'd,
Will easily be granted.-You, my lord,-
(To Northumberland.)

Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,
Shall secretly into the bosom creep
Of that same noble prelate well belov'd,
The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True; who bears hard

His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop.
I speak not this in estimation,

As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and set down:
And only stays but to behold the face
Of that occasion, that shall bring it on.

slip.

Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well. North. Before the game's a-foot, thou still let'st [plot :Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble And then the power of Scotland, and of York,To join with Mortimer, ha?

Wor. And so they shall Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd. Wor. And 'tis no little reason bids us speed, To save our heads by raising of a head: For, bear ourselves as even as we can, The king will always think him in our debt; And think we think ourselves unsatisfied, Till he hath found a time to pay us home. And see already, how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love.

Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him.

Wor. Cousin, farewell:-No further go in this,
Than I by letters shall direct your course.
When time is ripe (which will be suddenly),
I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer;
Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once,
(As I will fashion it,) shall happily meet,

To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,
Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

North. Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive,
I trust.

And would be glad he met with some mischance,

Bat that I think his father loves him not,

I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.

War. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you,

When you are better temper'd to attend.

[fool

North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient Art thon, to break into this woman's mood; Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own? Hot. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd with rods.

ACT II.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.-Rochester. An Inn Yard. Enter a Carrier, with a lantern in his hand.

1 Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hanged: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler, Ost. (Within.) Anon, anon.

Enter another Carrier.

2 Car. Peas and beans are as dank here as dog, and that is the next way to ive poor des te bots: this house is turned upside down, since Rebia ostler died.

1 Car. Poor fellow! never joyed, since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villainous house in all Londou road for leas: I am stung like a tench.

1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Caristendom could be better bit than I have een since the first cock.

2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jorden. and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach.

1 Car. What, ostler! come away and be hanged,

Come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon and two razes of ginger, to be delivered as far as Charing-cross.

I Car. Odsbody! the turkeys in my pannier are quite starved-What, ostler-A plague on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An'twere not as good a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.--Come, and be hanged:-Hast no faith in thee?

Enter GADSHILL.

Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock? 1 Car. I think it be two o'clock.

Gads. I prythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye: I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.

Gads. I prythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when? canst tell?-Lend me thy lantern. quoth a-marry, I'll see thee hanged first. Gads. Sirrah, carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?

2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mags, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. Exeunt Carriers.

Gads. What, ho! chamberlain!

Cham. (Within.) At hand, quoth pick-purse. Gads. That's even as fair as-at hand, quoth the chamberlain; for thon variest no more from picking of purses, than giving direction doth from labouring; thou lay st the plot how.

Enter Chamberlain.

Cham. Good morrow, master Gadshill. It holds current, that I told you yesternight: There's a franklin in the wild of Kent, hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold: I heard him tell it to one of his company, last night at supper; a kind of auditor; one, that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter: they will away presently. Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with saint Nicholas' clerks, I'll give thee this neck.

Cham. No, I'll none of it: I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for, I know, thou worship'st saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may. Gads. What talkest thou to me of the hangman? if I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows: for, if I hang, old sir John hangs with me; and, thou knowest, he's no starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou dreamest not of, the which, for sport sake, are content to do the profession some grace, that would, if matters should be looked into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no foot land-rakers, no long-staff, sixpenny strikers; none of these mad, mustachio purple lined malt-worms; but with nobility, and tran quillity; burgomasters, and great oneyers; such as

can hold in; such as will strike sooner than speak, | and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray And yet I lic, for they pray continually to their sint, the commonwealth; or, rather, not pray to her, but prey on her; for they ile up and down on ir, and roale her their boots.

Chơm. What, the commonwealth their boots? will she hold out water in toul way?

Gads. She wid, she will; justice hath liquored her. We ste das in a castle, cock-sure; we have the receipt of lern-seed, we walk invisible.

Cham. Nay, by my faith: I think you are more beholden to the night, than to fern-seed, for your walking invisible.

Gods. Give me thy han1; thon shalt have a share in our purchase, as Laia a true man. Cham. Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a

01:11.

stable.

false thuel.
Gads. Go to; Hort is a common name to all
Bid the ostler bring my gelding out of the
Farewell, youu muddy knive Exeunt.
SCENE HI-The Road by Gadskill.
Enter Prince HENRY, and POINS; BARDOLPH and
PETO, at some distance.

Poins. Come, shelter, shelter; I have removed Falstall's horse, and he frets like a gammed velvet. P. Hen. Stand close.

Enter FALSTAFF.

Fal. Poins! Poius, and be hanged! Poins! P. Hen. Peace, ye fot-kidneyed rascal; What a brawling dost thou keep?

Fal. Where's Poins, Hal?

P. Hon. He is walked up to the top of the hill; I'll go seek him. Pretends to seek Poins.)

Fal. I am accursed to rob in that thief's company the rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. II travel but four foot by the squire further afoot. I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death for all this, it Iscape hanging tor killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly any time this twoand twenty years; and yet I am bewitched with the rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it could not be else; I have drunk medicines.Poins-Ha-a plague upon you both-Bardolph-Peto!-Til starve, ere I'll rob a foot fur ther. An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to turn true mau, and have these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground, is threescore and ten miles afoot with me; and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough: A plague upon't, when thieves cannot be true to one another. They whistle. Whew! -A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you rogues, give me my horse, and be hanged.

P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down; lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.

Fal. Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again, for all the coin in thy father's exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?

P. Hen. Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.

Fal. I pr'ythee, good prince Hal, help me to my horse; good king's son.

P. Hen. Out, you rogue, shall I be your ostler!

Fal. Go, hang thyself in thy own heir-apparent garters! If I be taen, I'll peach for this. An I have not ballads made on you all, and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack he my poison: When a jest is so forward, and afoot too,-I hate it. Enter GADSHULL.

Gads. Stand!
Fal. So i do, against my will.

Poins. 0, 'tis our setter I know his voice.